A Zin Lover's Tour of Dry Creek Valley
by Lisa Anderson Mann
There are few regions of the world that are so redolent of the flavor of their wines. And few wines that so embody the spirit of their place. There are some excellent cabernets coming out of Dry Creek Valley, superb sangioveses, a few really fine grenaches, and some terrific syrahs. But this is zinfandel country, and you won't get far in Dry Creek Valley without being reminded of it.
"Zin is California's gift to the world of wine," says Grady Wann, winemaker at Quivera Winery "And the Dry Creek Valley is a unique place in California for zin. Place really does matter."
Zinfandel grapes love the Dry Creek Valley. The microclimate is unlike even the neighboring Russian River and Alexander Valley appellations. A serendipitous blend of drainage, soils, and the warm days and cool nights that zin grapes love converges here to create vintage after vintage of exceptional zins. "It's the nighttime cooling that separates a good zin growing region from a great one," says Ted Seghesio, a fourth generation winemaker at Seghesio Family Vineyards.
Wine loving tourists also love the Dry Creek Valley. In the northern end of Sonoma County, it shares the bucolic scenery; the gourmet food scene; and the proximity to San Francisco, the coast, and the redwoods with the better known parts of California's wine country but it is a little off the beaten winery crawl. "Dry Creek is a very intimate valley," says Ray Lewand, founder of Camellia Cellars.
And in fact, it is a gem of an appellation. The valley measures only 16 miles long and 2 miles wide - but even that measurement is misleading, as it is measured ridge to ridge and end to end. "The Dry Creek Valley is unique among appellations in that it is small and very clearly defined. It's easy to get a good perspective on this appellation," says Seghesio. "Exploring the Dry Creek Valley you can really get an appreciation for how versatile one genre of wine in one small valley can be," agrees Sebastien Pochan, winemaker at Unti Vineyards.
"It's the most incredible valley in Sonoma County. It has an incredible concentration of excellent, world class wines, and it's just gorgeous," says innkeeper Lucy Lewand of Healdsburg's Camellia Inn. "You can go to any winery in Dry Creek Valley and you can't go wrong. If you're a wine person, you can spend a week in the Dry Creek Valley and still not experience it all. If you're a teetotaler, there's still plenty to do here. And even if you're the designated driver, people enjoy going to the wineries. They're set in beautiful locations, they almost all have picnic areas; it's very scenic and relaxing."
There are about 40 wineries in Dry Creek Valley, and most are small, family wineries. Strung like pearls up quiet roads, nearly all of the wineries offer tasting rooms, picnic areas, views, and an up-close look at the vineyards. Unlike the larger wineries, the person pouring in the tasting room is quite likely to be intimately involved in the wine making process. And unlike the busier wine routes, owners and winemakers have more time - except during crush - to talk wine with visitors.
"There are a lot of small producers in the Dry Creek Valley," says Chris Lewand, of Camellia Cellars. "That means a lot of things for a wine lover. For example, zin grapes are notorious for uneven ripening. We're small enough that we put the grapes out on sorting tables and cull the unevenly ripened grapes before they go into the hopper. We literally touch every grape. It's very hands on. The bigger producers can't do that. So you really can get a very different wine from a smaller producer. But the farther from Sonoma County you get, the less likely you are to find these wines. We make under 400 cases each annually for most of our wines. So most of our wines are sold here at our tasting room, or to our wine club members. And I think that's true for most of the smaller family or boutique wineries. If you want to really experience the zins from Dry Creek Valley, you have to come here."
One of the reasons that Dry Creek Valley has become the Mecca for zin lovers is simply the heritage of zin in this region has given local winemakers a wealth of experience that other regions can't match. The valley is full of thick, gnarly, old zin vines - stout and gnome-like, covered in lichens. "The Dry Creek Valley has a 140 year old legacy with zin. During that time there was prohibition and any number of other wines came into favor. Those old vines could have been ripped out dozens of time through the years. But they weren't. That says something. There is no truer test than time," says Seghesio.
"We learn something new every day. But sometimes what we learn is that the old timers had it right all along," laughs Wann. "They planted row crops in the creek bed, and zin on the more rugged hillsides. You can grow zin along the creek bed, but if the vines are too comfortable, the flavor of the grapes can get a little flabby. And most of the old timers planted some petit syrah vines in among the zin. And a little petit syrah is the perfect grape to blend with zin. The Dry Creek valley has a unique connection with the past - we have wineries here that have been making Zin for 3 or 4 generations, and those families are so generous with their knowledge and experience."
Although California grown zins are something of a gold standard for zinfandels, until fairly recently, the actual origins of the zin grape were a mystery. Prior to Prohibition - and even up until the huge Cabernet plantings of the 1990s - it was the most widely planted red wine grape planted in California. Zin vines first appeared - it is believed - in Sonoma in 1859, and ten years later it could be found throughout California. Some speculated that zin was related to the Italian primitivo vines, a fact supported not only by flavor but by the influence of the Italian immigrants to the California wine growing regions--but negated by the stark fact that zin was known to have been planted in CA earlier than primitivo was known to be planted in Italy. In 2002, after years of painstaking detective work, UC Davis plant geneticist Dr. Carole Meredith solved the puzzle. Both primitivo and zinfandel are an ancient Croatian grape called Crljenak Kastelanski (sirl yenak kasssel ansky).
Still, zin producers say, zin has managed to escape its European apron strings--which is one of the things zin lovers love about zin. "It's definitely an American kind of wine; bold, forward, ripe, a little out-there. There's a bit of a backlash against the elitism of European style wines. People think of zin as a full-flavored everyman's wine," says Wann. "I think it reflects the fact that zin grew up here - it stands apart from the somewhat more restrained European model of winegrowing."
"The climate, the history, the knowledge in Dry Creek Valley is more conducive to zin than anywhere in CA. And zin is the CA grape, no matter where it's origins. History would support me on that," agrees Seghesio.
Zin lovers, like zin grapes, have a distinct personality say Dry Creek's zinfandel producers. "Zin is a cult wine. Californians love it. It's kind of an insiders wine. But a lot of people don't understand it. Some people still think zinfandel is pink, and that's amazing to me," says Phyllis Zouzounis, winemaker for Deux Amis Winery and Mazzocco Wineries.
"There are world class zins," says Wann. "But zin lovers are a little less serious about it all. Zin lovers tend to be a different breed. They're fun-loving, rambunctious, outgoing, and a little irreverent towards the world of wine. But that's a good thing. If you're not enjoying yourself, what's the point?"